I've been putting together a step through for my girlfriend's birthday over the last couple of months. She is a bit tentative about riding, but we had a great time in Amsterdam getting drunk and riding around last year so I thought why not use that as some inspiration for her present.

Frame was a dump found Repco of 70s-80s era which I stripped and had powdercoated in "Primrose".

I've polished and restored many of the original bits and laced a coaster brake to the original rear wheel.

Seat: Avon (vegan leather) - actually brown but the photos don't really show this as I played with the levels a bit too much! Tyres: White (eBay)Basket: Cane Corner in Adelaide

See below for the results, unfortunately I didn't take any before photos for fear she might see them and ruin the surprise, but suffice to say the bike was a mess before I started so I'm very pleased with how it turned out and she loves it!

m_wave wrote:I've polished all the components to convert this back to a geared bike with a cassette hub etc, so I've keep all the cable guides

Nice reno on a stylish bike for a lady.

Just check the rear fork spacing. If it's an old 3-speed from the 70s-80s it's likely the rear fork is 120mm and you will not find any cassette hubs that fit this. Most will be 126 or 130mm. If you really want to fit that cassette you'll need to get the rear stays spread (best done by your LBS).

Ahh, I remember those days before getting married where I would put in extra effort to show my love for my girlfriend. Now that I'm married I would have given her the bike in the condition that I found it in the hard rubbish pile. Very nice rebuild

i've lived in amsterdam and this bike does not qualify as dutch. its not BLACK and rusty nor does it have a plastic bag as a seat cover. im sorry to say, in this condition it would be stolen in less time than it takes to read this post. contact me next time you want to build a genuine fiets and i will help destroy your handiwork.

Thanks muchly for the positive comments, girlfriend is loving the bike now the weather is getting nicer, though she's requested some more top speed so I may switch out the rear wheel for a 3-Speed coaster brake sturmey archer I have lying around.

Powdercoated in Adelaide: Central Powdercoaters do a great job for decent moneyBottle was mine, I stashed it while I was taking some shots!

Good work. I want to eventually do the same thing for my GF too. Same sort of deal we had a good time riding around in Germany and Holland on old single speed rust buckets and she thought it was great. Not quite the same cycle friendly environment here though, but I am sure she would like it. Just have to get my tools organised to start on my own project bike first!

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